


The Way Forward

by woodelf



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Canon compliant until the season 6 finale, F/M, Family Fluff, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:22:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23421637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woodelf/pseuds/woodelf
Summary: In a world where Gideon wasn't de-aged back into a baby, Henry takes his uncle under his wing and Rumplestiltskin and Belle look to the future.
Relationships: Belle & Gideon & Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Gideon & Henry Mills (Once Upon a Time)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 29





	The Way Forward

**Author's Note:**

> "Movie night" prompt for a-monthly-rumbelling.

“Gideon, this is your nephew Henry.”

They’d run into each other after leaving Granny’s for their first meal out with Gideon. It had been an uncomfortable hour, as Gideon was subject to the stares of everyone who had been in the diner – some merely curious, but others openly suspicious or even hostile. Gideon had alternately tried to hunch himself into invisibility or met the stares with a look of cold aloofness on his face that Gold had found eerily similar to the one that he knew he wore on his own face sometimes. It was meant to convey that you didn’t care in the least what the other person was thinking of you, when in fact you felt completely differently inside. Belle had kept up a steady stream of chatter, trying to distract Gideon, but Gold knew that if Gideon were to be accepted by Storybrooke, and hopefully find some friends, then he needed to be seen in the company of someone other than the Dark One and his wife. Seeing Henry coming towards them on the sidewalk had seemed too fortuitous an opportunity to pass up. 

Henry, bless his soul, smiled and stuck his hand out. “Nice to meet you.”

Gideon shook it awkwardly, having learned this custom already. “Hi, Henry. Look, I’m sorry that I tried to kill your mother, I – “

“I know, you were being controlled by the Black Fairy; she had your heart,” Henry said with far more understanding and acceptance than Gideon felt he had any right to. “It’s okay; it’s over now.”

Gideon smiled uncertainly. “If you’re sure…”

“Trust me, everyone in this family has done some pretty bad things, even when they weren’t being cursed or controlled.” Henry shot a glance at first Belle, then Rumpelstiltskin. He still felt ashamed that he hadn’t thought about Belle being trapped in a sleeping curse when he had attempted to destroy all magic. He had apologised, and both his grandparents had said they’d forgiven him, but it was not something he liked remembering. He wouldn’t hold Gideon’s past against him.

Belle looked sideways at Rumpelstiltskin, and found him looking back at her. She took his hand in hers and squeezed it. “Yeah, we have. And we make amends the best we can, and we try to move on.” 

Rumpelstiltskin squeezed back.

“It’s weird,” Henry told Gideon. “If you hadn’t gotten magically screwed over, you wouldn’t even have been born yet. But I think I’ll like having an uncle who’s older than me, like most uncles are.” He glanced at Gold. “Have you told him about Neal?”

“We haven’t had time yet, what with everything that’s been going on.” Rumpelstiltskin said. It had been less than a week since the Black Fairy had been destroyed and he’d been able to return Gideon’s heart to him, and it had seemed more important to learn about Gideon’s life than to bring up his own painful past. He could tell that it was tough on Gideon, transitioning into this new life, in a town where he had tried to kill the woman everyone knew as the Savior. 

“Neal was my dad,” Henry explained softly, his own eyes echoing the sudden sadness in his grandfather’s. “Your half-brother, from my grandpa’s marriage to his first wife Milah. Who ran off with Captain Hook who just married my mother.” An odd look crossed his face as he recited the facts. “That will never get any less weird when I stop to think about it. We’ve had a lot of timey-wimey stuff happen in this family, your growing up in a different realm is par for the course, really.”

“‘Was’?” Gideon had to ask, knowing what the answer would be. He would have known if he had a brother around.

“Yeah. He died.” Henry swallowed around a sudden lump in his throat. “I never even knew him until a few years ago, either. He never knew I existed until then.”

“I’m sorry,” Gideon said gently. “You’ll have to tell me about him.”

“We all will,” said Belle, firmly. “He died a hero.”

“I have pictures,” Henry offered. “You can look through my photo album.” He cocked his head. “You don’t look like him, you look like your dad. I guess my dad took after his mother more.”

“He did,” confirmed Rumpelstiltskin.

“I’d like that,” Gideon told Henry. “What was that other thing you said, though – ‘timey-wimey’?”

“Oh, that’s from a TV series.” Henry brightened up. “I’ll have to introduce you to some good TV series. And movies! We’ll have to have a movie night, no, lots of movie nights, there’s a lot you need to catch up on, because certain movies have become part of popular culture, and people will refer to them, and you won’t know what they’re talking about. But I’ll help get you up to speed. That is, if you want,” he added uncertainly, when Gideon didn’t reply right away.

Feeling slightly overwhelmed, and somewhat taken aback by Henry’s friendliness in a town where he had not found any yet so far, Gideon hastened to reassure him. “Yes, I would. Thank you. I don’t know anything about how to be an uncle, but I could use a friend.”

“Uncles take their nephews to the movies and buy them ice cream afterwards,” said Henry mischievously.

“Ah, about that –” Gideon began, then noticed his father pulling his wallet out of his pocket and extracting several bills, which he held out.

“Here. You now have money. Go take your nephew to the movies and buy him ice cream afterwards.” Rumpelstiltskin smiled.

Gideon stuffed the money into his pocket. “All right. Right now?” he asked, uncertainly.

“Well, we’ll have to check what’s playing and at what times first,” said Henry. “I could show you around town, and we could do that, if you like. I mean, you must have seen something of the place, poofing around, but you haven’t had a proper tour. I could introduce you to people, too. He looked Gideon up and down critically. “Do you want to go home and change first?”

“Change what?”

“Into something more comfortable.”

“This is comfortable.” Gideon looked down at his new black suit, liking the way it looked on him, the way it made him feel closer to his father. He’d spent the last few days spending mornings with his mother in the library, helping out and reading voraciously about the history and customs of this world and afternoons with his father in the shop, slowly getting acquainted and forging a relationship. “Is there something wrong with it?”

“No, of course not,” both Belle and Rumpelstiltskin assured him at nearly the same time.

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Henry agreed, “But most people don’t wear three piece suits outside of work hours. They come home and change into something more casual.” He glanced at Gold. “Your dad’s an exception. But maybe you haven’t had time to go shopping yet?”

“Henry has a point,” Rumpelstiltskin admitted. “I spent 28 years wearing a suit thanks to the original curse that created Storybrooke and my Mr. Gold persona. It’s what I’m used to, here in this land. I feel strange wearing anything else. But – the curse was designed to isolate me, to set me apart from everyone else. The expensive suits reminded everyone else that I was richer than they were, that I was someone to be feared. People might find you less threatening if they saw you in more casual clothes when you’re not working. You don’t have to wear anything you don’t want to, of course – but why don’t you try out some of the things that Henry suggests? Jeans, t-shirts, sweaters – whatever you find comfortable, go ahead and buy it. You can use the credit card I gave you for larger purchases like that.”

“Okay, we’ll head down to the movie theatre first, see what’s playing,” Henry decided. “And then we’ll go shopping, get you some basic stuff. Sound good?”

Gideon looked rather helplessly at his parents.

“That’s a good idea,” Belle said encouragingly. “Everybody likes Henry; you’ll be in safe hands.”

“I…all right.” Left to himself, Gideon knew he’d rather stay holed up in the house, or in the quiet shop, or in a corner of the library reading, but he supposed he would have to face the townspeople sooner or later. Best to get it over with, when he had a friendly guide with him.

“Great! We can stop for ice cream after that. And popcorn! Have you ever had popcorn? If we go to the movies we’ll get some popcorn; you’ll like it.” Henry turned away and started walking even as he was still speaking.

With one last glance over his shoulder at his parents, Gideon hurried after.

* * *

In the weeks that followed, it became apparent that Henry had made acclimatising Gideon to Storybrooke his own personal mission.

“He probably has a name for it,” Belle observed, rinsing off the last of the supper dishes and passing it to Rumpel to dry. There had been no question about her not moving back into the salmon house with Gideon’s return. They had missed 28 years of their son’s life, 28 years of being a family. She didn’t want to miss a single second more, nor would she have asked it of Rumpel by making Gideon choose only one parent to live with. This was her home; this was their home. They belonged together.

“Operation: Uncle,” Rumpelstiltskin suggested with a grin. Gideon had come home from his first day out with Henry with a modest collection of casual clothing that Belle had had to be dissuaded from making him try on then and there to model for her.

“Operation: Giraffe,” countered Belle, thinking of their son’s height.

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head with an amused smile. “I will never be able to understand how he ended up that tall with us for parents.”

“They say physical traits can skip a generation,” said Belle. “He must get it from my father.”

Belle felt a pang for all the years they had never had, watching Gideon grow from a baby to a toddler, and then a sturdy child heading off to school. Had he been tall for his age early on, or had he shot up all at once as a teenager? She’d have to ask him; it seemed important to know, along with so many other myriad details. But asking things like what were his favourite foods as a child was fraught with the possibility of the answer being that he hadn’t had a choice in the matter; he’d eaten what he had been provided with. She forced her mind away from that channel of thought back to Henry, and how Gideon already seemed to relax and become more open whenever he was around Henry – they’d already had one movie night at home, and Belle smiled at the memory of Henry enthusiastically explaining everything in the movies to Gideon. It had been a good night, full of laughter and the warmth of being surrounded by family.

“I think Henry has needed someone like Gideon as much as Gideon needs someone like Henry,” she observed, thinking about it.

“You mean a father figure?” Rumpelstiltskin hazarded doubtfully. Despite being older, Gideon was in many ways more immature than Henry, thanks to his sheltered upbringing in the Dark Realm.

“That’s part of it, maybe, but more…a link to his father?” suggested Belle.

Rumpelstiltskin nodded, feeling slightly guilty. He’d kept his distance from Henry for a variety of reasons – first there had been the prophecy about a boy who would be his undoing, and then it had been out of a feeling that Henry would be safer if he wasn’t seen as someone who could be used as a way to hurt the Dark One. Although considering the other side of Henry’s family had seen no problem in taking him down to the Underworld with them, perhaps he shouldn’t leave Henry’s welfare entirely in their hands. For all that Henry was mature for his age, he was still a child and needed to be protected, not dragged along on every adventure. And then, for a while, he had simply been gone. Dead, for all intents and purposes, the Dark One’s essence trapped in the vault in the Enchanted Forest. And after that, enslaved by Zelena for a year. But now – now he vowed that he would be more a part of his grandson’s life.

“I’m glad he’s hit it off with Gideon,” he said. “If there’s one thing Henry likes, it’s helping people.” He thought of Henry showing up earlier with an invitation to another movie night, this one at Emma’s house. Gideon had been obviously reticent, but Henry had refused to take no for an answer.

_“I get that it’ll be awkward at first, but you can’t avoid each other forever,” he had insisted. “She knows you were being controlled, and she’s willing to put it in the past. She wouldn’t have allowed me to invite you if she wasn’t.”_

_“Do the brave thing,” Belle had encouraged._

_Gideon had shot her a withering look. “Thanks, Mother. It’s not you who’s been invited to have dinner with someone you tried to kill.”_

_“It’ll be okay,” Henry persisted, and Gideon had taken a deep breath and given in, grabbing his jacket and pulling it on over the off-white button-down shirt he was wearing along with a pair of jeans and boots._

_“All right, Nephew, but this had better be worth it.”_

The last dish done, Belle drained the water from the sink and dried her hands. “Shall we have a movie night of our own tonight?”

“Anything you like, sweetheart.”

They settled on the couch, Belle kicking her shoes off and curling her feet up beneath her as she picked up the remote control and flipped through the channels, looking for something good to watch. She stopped on a show where a baby was pulling itself up by the bars of its crib, making happy babbling noises until its mother came over, smiling, and leaned down to pick the baby up, kissing its forehead. Belle’s heart clenched at the sight, a sharp, fierce ache that made her want to cry. She could have had that, but she had thrown it away. She spoke before she even realised what she was saying.

“I want a baby.”

“What?” Gold half-turned to face her, although he had heard her perfectly well.

“I want a baby, Rumpel. Not right away, Gideon needs us now, and I don’t want him thinking that we don’t love him just as he is. But maybe in a year or so – do you think we could try again? To have a baby to raise and to love, and to do it right this time? Together?”

Rumpelstiltskin swallowed hard, and raised a shaking hand to cup Belle’s face. She was asking about more than a baby, she was confirming that she wanted a life with him, and a proper marriage. He nodded, a tremulous smile appearing on his face. “I can’t think of anything that I’d like more.” He leaned forward, and Belle met him, their lips meeting as they kissed. Her hand came up to cup the back of his head, her fingers sliding into his hair, and she pulled back with a huff of laughter after a moment, trying to tug on the short strands.

“There’s nothing left for me to grab onto,” she complained. “You are letting it grow out again, aren’t you?” It was already a little longer than it had been, just brushing the top of his collar, but still too short for her preference.

“Do you want me to?” he teased, threading his own fingers into her long hair.

“Yes, please,” she said meekly, her dimples appearing. “You know I always liked burying my hands in your hair.”

“As you wish,” he promised with a grin. “I shall put it on my to-do list.” He claimed another kiss, and Belle smiled at him brightly when he pulled back, before shifting and wriggling back so that she could lean back against him as she faced the TV again. Carefully, he put an arm around her, and relaxed when she covered his hand with her, keeping his pressed firmly in place.

Belle murmured in contentment as she felt Rumpelstiltskin press a kiss to the top of her head, returning her attention to the television program. The mother was settling the baby into a high chair at the kitchen table, where it promptly began banging happily on the tray. Belle smiled wistfully, but it was now a scene she could look forward to one day, instead of only something that she had recklessly thrown away. She would not make the same mistake twice. If they had another child, she would hold onto it as fiercely as she should have held onto Gideon. As if on cue, the door to the kitchen on screen banged open and a little boy came charging into the kitchen, closely followed by what was obviously the children’s father, who greeted his wife and baby with a kiss. The little boy climbed up onto a chair and began making faces at the baby, making it laugh in delight. 

“Do you think Gideon would like being a big brother?” Belle asked.

Rumpel’s arm tightened around her. “I think Gideon has a lot of guilt over not being able to protect the other children in the mines with him. So yes, I think he would be a wonderful big brother. Quite possible overprotective, but I can’t see that as a bad thing.”

“Not around here, no,” Belle agreed, trying to envision a scene in her head, Gideon playing with a baby, a small toddler lovingly following him around. In her mind’s eye, Gideon was smiling and happy, knowing he was loved, that he had a family. “Do you think he’s having a good time at Emma’s?”

“Well, if not, he’s perfectly capable of leaving, so I’m hoping things are going okay at least.”

“It’d be nice to have a little girl,” Belle mused. “To balance things out.”

“It would,” Rumpelstiltskin agreed, his own mind filling with sudden images. “It’s been a while since a girl’s been born into this family. About time for a change.” 

A change sounded good, Belle thought, a change for the better. They would learn from the past and move on, not forgetting it but not dwelling on it. They would find the way forward. 


End file.
